It's always darkest before the dawn...

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

Characters: Sakura (transientspring) and Naruto (theuzumakifox)
When: Today.
Where: Nesreca Market
Rating: PG (language)
Summary: Sakura and Naruto meetup for the first time



[ Naruto said he was coming. She keeps telling herself that. To pass the time, she replies to the other messages that have appeared in her inbox, quickly getting the hang of the little device, despite not knowing where it came from or who some of he people on the screen are.

Sasuke is here. Sasuke...is here. Sasuke is here. Sasuke.

Finally, after waiting for what seems like ages, Sakura hears footsteps in the distance. Cautiously, she steps out from behind one of the rotting stalls.

As soon as she sees that familiar mop of blond hair, she's standing taller, walking faster, practically running toward him. Later, she'll attribute her overreaction to relief and nothing more, but for now, she throws her arms around Naruto and hugs him tightly. ]

Where have you been??

[ Her words are muffled in the front of his jacket. ]

Comments

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[He wraps his arms around her, being extremely glad to see her. He could feel tears forming, knowing they will soon fall on her pink...hair? Since when did she have pink hair? The Sakura he knew always had dyed black hair.]

Sakura-chan...when did you change your hair?

[Something wasn't right. He pulled her away and looked at her much younger features.]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

What do you mean?

[ She tilts her head up to give him her typical "why are you so dense?" look. ]

Stupid, it's always been this color. I--

[ Up? Since when is Naruto so much taller than she is? And his eyes look...older...a bit like...Sasuke's... ]

WHAT DID YOU DO? WERE YOU TRYING SOME KIND OF FORBIDDEN JUTSU OR SOMETHING? JEEZ! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WERE GOOFING OFF WHILE THERE'S A WAR GOING ON!!

[ The whole time she's aggressively pushing him in the chest, forcing him backward step by step. She's desperate to believe that's what happened. It's the only thing that makes sense. On the final note of her rant, she pulls back her fist and punches him square in the jaw. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[He flies back, hitting his head in the process. The twenty three year old gets hit with a surreal powerful punch, knocking him unconscious.]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ Sakura brushes her hands together, satisfied that her point has been made. ]

Really, Naruto...

[ But her satisfaction becomes confusion becomes concern when Naruto doesn't get up, doesn't yell or whine or bemoan how cruel she is. He's just...lying there... ]

Naruto...

[ She takes her time walking over to him, forcing herself not to panic. A bloody gash across the crown of his head, blood red leaking into his golden hair, confirms her worst fears. And finally, she realizes what's been nagging at the back of her mind the whole time, like an itch she couldn't scratch: Naruto's chakra signature is practically non-existent.

Dropping to her knees, she presses her hands to the wound and concentrates on the layers and layers of bone and skin knitting themselves back together. Her eyes slide over his features, over the strong set of his jaw, over the scars that are real scars. His clothes are different, too, and his shoes in particular are like nothing she's ever seen.

She remembers how he hugged her. Different, yet the same. ]

What...happened to you...?

[ When the wound is finished healing, she sits back on her heels waiting for him to awaken. She brushes his hair out of his eyes and glances around. She really doesn't like this place. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[He slowly wakes up and looks up. His squinted eyes note her changed features. The black hair he is so used to seeing on her was now pink. She seemed to have gotten shorter and her eyes were a bit more innocent than what he was used to.]

Sa-Sakura-chan...Did you change your hair?

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ She looks down, a soft smile purposefully placed on her face. Her fingers come up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly self-conscious of the fact that it's pink. ]

It's always been this way. [ Her tone is more like a question than a confident statement. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

No...it used to be black. You liked dying it because the Uchiha's-

[He stopped before he had a chance to state how she changed it since the Uchiha's look was in vogue back in his world. Naruto used his arms to sit up and studied her features a bit more closely. Just as he thought... She was different...]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ Her eyes narrow and when he sits up, she's looking him in the eye with her patent "You better explain right now, mister" expression. ]

What about the Uchiha? [ She's not ready to tell him Sasuke's here yet, not if he doesn't know. She's barely ready to accept it herself. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[This Sakura had pink hair, she was super strong and very young. His Sakura had black hair. She was a bit taller and her eyes were less innocent thanks to the post apocalyptic war that surrounded them.]

They are in control of everything.

[He explained. If she didin't get it then there was something else he had to explain. Was she his Sakura?]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

Naruto... [ She starts touching his head where it was injured, checking for swelling, wondering if she hadn't fixed all of the damage. ] You must have hit your head harder than I thought...

Madara or whoever he really is might be strong, but he's not winning, not yet. It's not like you to give up hope so easily.

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[Madara is...what? But Madara had already taken over, long ago.]

Sakura-chan,

[He grabs her hand to keep her from touching the painful swelling.]

Tell me about your world.

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

My...world? [ Not our world. But her world. Something was definitely not right. ]

What do you mean? Naruto, really, are you okay?

[ She tries to make it sound like he's being ridiculous, but that doesn't mask the underlying tone of concern. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[He had no choice but to tell her about him.]

Have you met Sasuke yet?

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ She pauses, just for a second, hesitates, then nods slowly. ]

I talked to him while I waiting for you. On this. [ She holds up the device, then tucks it away into the pouch at her belt. ]

He's different...like you.

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

Different...

[He whispered. Naruto knew this was a different Sakura, and he knew he had to explain it to her before she started asking questions or worst: Losing her trust.]

Sakura-chan, I come from a different world.

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

A different...world?

[ Her world. This world. Another world. So many worlds she couldn't keep track anymore. ]

And Sasuke...?

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

He...

[He hesitates for a moment.]

He comes from a different world too-datteba...

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ That's right, even Sasuke looks older. As if they've both continued to grow while she's stood still--and isn't that funny, how life has a way of being so damn honest.

Jeez, Sakura, no feeling sorry for yourself now. C'mon. Suddenly she misses Ino very much. ]

I...see. So everyone here is from somewhere else?

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

Yeah... Me and Sasuke are from completely different worlds. Someone called me a ninja once, but I didin't get it.

[He shrugs.]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ She raises a brow at that and cocks her head to the side. She isn't smiling now, just studying the face before her. The blue eyes less innocent than she remembers and the rough-around-the-edges tone that doesn't really suit him in her mind. ]

But, you're Naruto. [ As if that clarifies everything. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

Believe it!!!

[He grins, reassuring her that he was still Naruto, the one and only. ]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ She snorts softly at that. Only Naruto. ]

So...my Naruto... [ She pauses, backtracks, rewords that a little. ] The Naruto from my world...isn't you.

[ A creepy sound in the distance makes her flinch and scootch a little closer to him. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

Right! And the Sakura-chan from my world, isn't you.

[He nods.]

You're in Nesreca. The Sasuke here is also not from our worlds and there are a lot of different people that are definitely not from our world.

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

So that's why Sasuke...

[ She frowns, just a little, at the ground. Sasuke didn't know. What she had tried to do. ]

I've never heard of this place. A-And I don't have time for this! There's a war going on.

[ She jumps to her feet, ready to go in whatever direction will take her home, despite Sasuke's assurance that there was no going back. ]

They need me back there!

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

You can't! I've tried going home too, once you're here, you're here until Libitina lets you go.

[He gets up in a hurry and dusts himself off.]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

Then, let's go talk to Libitina.

[ Her mouth moves slowly around another odd foreign word. She takes a few steps, then stops, not sure where to go. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

We can't.

No one knows where she lives. She's like a ghost. She looks like a ghost too. Has she given you a number yet?

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

A ghost? Really? Naruto, you know ghosts don't exist.

[ Her expression clearly reads, "God, you can be so dumb sometimes!" ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

No, she's like a ghost. She's little and looks like a little girl...

Did she give you a number.

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

There was a little girl who did say some weird things.

[ She thinks for a moment. ] Something like...506?

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

Thats you're number?

[There is something he realizes.]

Sweet!

[He could feel himself grinning from ear to ear.]

Sakura-chan, were neighbors! across from eachother! I'm also in the 5th floor at 505!

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ She blinks owlishly at him for a moment, not quite sure why he's so damn happy. ]

It's a room number. That creepy kid was trying to give me my room number?!

[ Cue the slight hysterics as the situation starts to sink in. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

Um Sakura-chan, you okay?

[He waves in front of her face to snap her out of whatever she is currently fixed on.]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

No, no, I'm fiiiine! I'm just stranded in a world that's apparently not my world, talking to a Naruto who isn't my Naruto and a Sasuke who's nothing like the Sasuke I saw last, and there are creepy kids going around handing out room numbers, and people in this...this...this THING!!

[ She pulls the device out and waves it around to prove her point. ]

So, so, yeah, of course, Naruto, everything is JUST FINE!!

[ She's panting softly by the end of it, hands shaking a little, completely out of sorts. ]

I want to go home.

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[Naruto wants to hug her, comfort her, tell her it was all going to be okay. But he knows better than to lie to her. Sasuke has been stuck here for 2 years. Who knows how long Libitina is planning on keeping Sakura for.]

You need to rest.

[He lightly pats her shoulder.]

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

[ She eyes him with a skeptical look, but she can't really object. Now that he's mentioned it, the adrenaline rush from her arrival has ebbed and she's just feeling so...terribly...drained. As if she hasn't slept in--oh, she really can't remember the last time she slept more than an hour (and that was only between doses of soldier pills and waves of incoming wounded. ]

Yeah...maybe that's a good idea. You said that number, it's my room, right? And we're, um, neighbors?

[ She's feeling a little chagrined for her tiny outburst. ]

[theuzumakifox.livejournal.com]

[He smiles as she reminds him of the time his Sakura would get embarrassed, mostly when Sasuke was around. Her outbursts were very common, so it was nice to have someone that could remind him of the girl he admired.]

I can take you there since we're neighbors. And if you need ANYTHING, please don’t hesitate to knock on my door-dattebayo!

[transientspring.livejournal.com]

All right.

[ She can't help the tone of resignation in her voice. But too much has happened, too many things in her world have changed. It's not even her world anymore. ]

I'll hold you to that. [ She laughs softly as they head off in the direction of what she hopes is a comfortable bed, quietly thankful that no matter where he's from, Naruto is still Naruto. ]

((ooc: /thread XD - Thanks!!))